“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3).
My family have a favourite fruit – our favourite fruit by far – the MANGO.
Every year we count down the weeks and days until summer mangoes are available in the fruit shops and we always manage to buy the first batch of mangoes released into the stores each year.
Because mangoes are such a tropical fruit and because my husband grew up in Lebanon where mangoes are not only prized, but expensive and rather tasteless because they are imported to the country rather than grown locally due to the inappropriate weather, one of the first trees he tried to grow was a mango tree.
When he bought his first home in Australia, my husband bought himself a mango tree and planted it proudly in his backyard. And he nurtured it and cared for it and looked after it. And after a few years of not much progress, one day – seemly out of the blue – the tree died (overnight) and there was nothing to be done for it other than to dig it out and replace it with another better adapted fruit tree. And this was basically because the climate in Sydney (because it is not a tropical climate) is not suited to mango trees.
A couple of years ago, my husband’s brother also bought himself a mango tree to plant in his Sydney backyard. He – having grown up overseas like my husband – also loves the tropical fruit. And for two years he has been watching his little sprig of a tree struggling to make any progress at all in the non-suitable Sydney climate.
The other day, my family and I travelled to Northern Queensland. And right there on every street corner is a mango tree. At first, we did not even recognise the trees because having lived in Sydney we are unfamiliar with the shape and size and scale of a mature mango tree. These trees were gigantic and literally smothered in fruit.
And I have been thinking about those mangoes and those mango trees over the last few days. You see the difference in those trees reminded me of the differences between this life and the next one…
You see the mango trees in Sydney are weak and frail. And this weakness reminds me of the weakness of souls on the Earth. On earth it is the weakest souls who God praises – the suffering, the meek and the poor. I have only to think of the beatitudes to understand the types of souls who God sees as magnificent – even though they look like the tiny little mango tree. And this is because those souls are in sub-optimal climate. Those are the souls adapted to eternal life in Paradise and so of course they do not flourish in the climate of the earth.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3-10).
Abut once those souls are in Heaven, they will look like the mango trees in tropical Queensland. They will be the largest and most magnificent of souls because they are well adapted for eternal life.
And I have been thinking about that today as I think about those mango trees, because there seems to be something magnificent in the suffering souls…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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